Pearce names GB squad

Five Welsh and 13 English players have been selected for Great Britain's men's Olympic football squad for London 2012.

PUBLISHED: 15:42, Mon, Jul 2, 2012

Stuart Pearce has named his 18-man Team GB squad for the Olympics [PA]

Team GB manager Stuart Pearce has not picked any Scottish or Northern Irish players for the tournament. The announcement of the squad confirmed that David Beckham has missed out with Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards named as the three over-age players allowed - all the others have to be under 23.

Swansea have three players named, the most of any club - Scott Sinclair, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor, while Tottenham defender Steven Caulker, who has also been included, was on loan at the Liberty Stadium last season.

Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge is also chosen, as is Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey and Manchester United Tom Cleverley. Tottenham's Gareth Bale would have been selected but has been ruled out due to injury.

Pearce confirmed there was no political pressure on him to select Beckham for his Team GB Olympic squad - and would not have accepted the job if there had been. As expected, the omission of Beckham - a key figure in the London 2012 bid process and beyond - somewhat overshadowed the naming of the 18 players who will line up at the Games.

"From the offset, when I sat down with the (Football Association) chairman David Bernstein, some time before Christmas, he offered me the opportunity to pick the squad," he said. "If at that stage he had said to me that certain individuals would have to be included I certainly wouldn't do that job. I don't know any manager worth their salt who would have."

Asked directly if Beckham would be part of the touchline team - much as he was at the 2010 World Cup which he missed through injury - Pearce said: "We only have seven passes (for backroom staff). We have no passes for that. The players have to be prepared to come through the door on form alone and that happens to be the case with staffing too: they have their role to play."

London 2012 will be the first time that Team GB have competed in the men's football competition since the 1960 Games in Rome. Team GB kick off their campaign at Old Trafford against Senegal on July 26, before playing the United Arab Emirates at Wembley on July 29 and Uruguay at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on August 1.